MANTICORERECORDSIndependent label: Manticore Records belonged to Prog Rockers
Emerson, Lake and Palmer, and was initially a joint venture between them and
Island Records. It issued new and re-released material by that group as
well as new recordings by a number of other artists, such as Keith Christmas,
Stray Dog and Italian Prog group P.F.M. Albums seem to have been its main
concern but it registered a minor Singles hit with Keith Emerson's, 'Honky Tonk
Train Blues' (K-13513; 1976) and found a Christmas classic in Greg Lake's, 'I
Believe In Father Christmas' (K-13511; 1975). Manticore stayed with Island
only from March to June, after which ELP took the label to WEA. The
catalogue number series changed, from HEVY-0 to K-13500, and records which had
already been issued were given numbers in the new series: P.F.M.'s
'Celebration', which had been HEVY-2, became K-13501. HEVY-1, 'Chevrolet'
b/w 'You Know' by Stay Dog, seems not to have been released in Britain.
The label design remained basically the same throughout its lifetime, but after
the first release the position of the credits changed. From 1975 singles
in the WEA group tended to have a medium-sized 'A' on the 'A' side; Manticore
singles were no exception. MPRO 1/2 Copies were promoted in the UK in a
stickered metal tin. Inside were a ELP single? this 3 track 7", plus 4
individual photo cards & 4 individual 4 page gatefold info sheets.
Distributed By Island and WEA Records. Manticore Records Ltd. Former
Address: 16 Curzon Street, London W1Y 7FF. Thanks to Robert Lyons For The
Info.